Systems and methods for enabling additional devices to check in to Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for checking many users in to a location using a Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) beacon. The provided systems and methods may allow a BLE beacon to facilitate a check in with a remote server that processes check ins and then disconnect from the device used to check in. The device may be assigned a unique identifier that may be broadcast from the device during the check in so that the BLE beacon can quickly scan for the identifier and connect with the device based on the identifier to provide content and other information to the device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/431,639, filed on Feb. 13, 2017 (now issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,251,041 on Apr. 2, 2019), which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/230,239 filed on Aug. 5, 2016, (now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 9,571,957 on Feb. 14, 2017), which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/248,263, filed on Apr. 8, 2014, (nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,445,220 on Sep. 13, 2016), which claimspriority to the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/874,587, filed on Sep. 6, 2013, the disclosures of each of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

Embodiments disclosed herein are related to systems and methods forenabling additional devices to check in using a Bluetooth® low energy(BLE) beacon.

Related Art

Computer systems and networks have facilitated the tasks of buying,selling and transferring goods. For example, global computer networks,such as the Internet, have allowed purchasers to relatively quickly andefficiently seek and purchase goods online. Similarly, global computernetworks provide an efficient and cost-effective medium for sellers toadvertise, offer, provide, and sell their goods. Electronic commercecompanies provide buyers and sellers with online services and theinfrastructure to accept orders of goods from remote purchasers, toperform the financial transactions necessary to confirm and complete thesale of goods, to ship or distribute the goods to remote purchasers, andto perform other related logistics. Technology advances have alsoallowed for a wider variety of devices and transaction types in theretail and other marketplaces.

One example of a relatively new development within the realm ofelectronic commerce is the ability to allow a consumer to pay for a goodor service at a point of sale through the use of his or her smart phoneor other personal mobile device. A user merely needs to have anappropriate payment application or “app” on his or her device, whereuponthe user can present his or her phone or other similar device at anappropriate time and location at a retail or other establishment. Theretailer or other seller or service provider can then “check in” thegiven user through some process of reading his or her smart phone orother similar device, after which the seller or service provider canaccept payment or credit through some form of communication with thechecked in or acknowledged device. This “check in” ability to acceptpayment or credit without the use of cash, checks, credit cards, orother traditional payment means can be particularly helpful in manysettings.

Unfortunately, such setups are not without their own drawbacks andinconvenient features. In many instances, the current check in processcan be time consuming. For example, current check in procedures oftenrequire the customer to take out his or her phone or other device at apoint of sale in order to make a payment or provide a credit. This ofteninvolves the device searching for the appropriate wireless connection atthe store, searching for the store among many possible choices on thedevice, and/or manual user input or selection on his or her personalmobile device, all of which can take some inconvenient amount of time.In addition, some check ins may fail, even if automated, due to thelimits on the number of devices or users that can be checked in at onetime. Even small amounts of time that are less than a minute can befrustrating where other consumers are waiting in line behind the user ata register or other point of sale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a networked system, consistent with someembodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a computing system, consistent withsome embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a beacon, consistent with someembodiments.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a location having multiple beaconsthroughout the location.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow for enabling additional clientcomputing devices to be in communication with a beacon, consistent withsome embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for checking in to alocation using a beacon, consistent with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process for checking in to alocation using a beacon, consistent with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process for checking in to alocation using a beacon, consistent with some embodiments.

In the drawings, elements having the same designation have the same orsimilar functions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description specific details are set forth describingcertain embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in theart that the disclosed embodiments may be practiced without some or allof these specific details. The specific embodiments presented are meantto be illustrative, but not limiting. One skilled in the art may realizeother material that, although not specifically described herein, iswithin the scope and spirit of this disclosure.

What is needed are systems and methods for automatically checking inmany users into a location.

Consistent with some embodiments, there is provided a system. The systemincludes one or more wireless transceivers configured to send a deviceidentifier to a user device in communication with the one or morewireless transceivers when the user device completes a check in,establish communications with the user device based on the deviceidentifier when content for the user device is received from a remoteserver, and send content to the user device, wherein the one or morewireless transceivers are further configured to communicate with theuser device using a Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) communications protocol.The system also includes a network interface component coupled to theone or more wireless transceivers and in communication with the remoteserver over a network, the network interface component configured toreceive the device identifier and the content from the remote server.The system also includes one or more processors configured to determinewhen the device identifier is present and determine when the content isreceived from remote server, and a memory.

Consistent with some embodiments, there is also provided a method. Themethod includes steps of communicating with a beacon using Bluetooth®low energy communications protocol to check in to a location, receivinga device identifier and instructions to broadcast the device identifierfrom the beacon, broadcasting the device identifier, whereincommunicating with the beacon stops after receiving the deviceidentifier, re-establishing communications with the beacon in responseto a request from the beacon, and receiving content from the beacon,wherein the re-established communications with the beacon stop afterreceiving the beacon. The method may be embodied in computer-readablemedia.

Consistent with some embodiments, there is further provided a method.The method includes steps of checking a user into a location, assigningto the user a device identifier to be broadcast by a device associatedwith the user for an expiration time using a Bluetooth® low energy (BLE)communications protocol, sending content to the user based on the deviceidentifier, and checking the user out of the location when the deviceidentifier is no longer broadcast at the location or the expiration timeassociated has passed. The method may be embodied in computer-readablemedia.

Consequently, embodiments described herein may allow a BLE beacon tofacilitate a check in with one user device and disconnect from the userdevice so that the channels and resources needed to facilitate the checkin are freed up for other user devices. The embodiments described hereinmay then allow the BLE beacon to quickly connect a user device using aunique identifier assigned to the user device to deliver content.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a networked system 100, consistent withsome embodiments. System 100 includes a client computing device 102 anda remote server 104 in communication over a network 106. Remote server104 may be a payment service provider server that may be maintained by apayment service provider, such as PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif.Remote server 104 may be maintained by other service providers indifferent embodiments. Remote server 104 may also be maintained by anentity with which sensitive credentials and information may be exchangedwith client computing device 102. Remote server 104 may further be oneor more servers that hosts functionality for users to “check in” to alocation, event, and the like. Checking in may provide the user thatchecks in with special offers, deals, and the like, and may let themerchant or other proprietor of the location or event that the user isthere. The user may also check in to a location for social purposes tolet friends and contacts of the user know that they have checked in.Remote server 104 may be more generally a web site, an online contentmanager, a service provider, such as a bank, or other entity whoprovides content to a user requiring user authentication or login.

Network 106, in one embodiment, may be implemented as a single networkor a combination of multiple networks. For example, in variousembodiments, network 106 may include the Internet and/or one or moreintranets, landline networks, wireless networks, and/or otherappropriate types of communication networks. In another example, thenetwork may comprise a wireless telecommunications network (e.g.,cellular phone network) adapted to communicate with other communicationnetworks, such as the Internet.

Client computing device 102, in one embodiment, may be implemented usingany appropriate combination of hardware and/or software configured forwired and/or wireless communication over network 106. For example,client computing device 102 may be implemented as a wireless telephone(e.g., smart phone), tablet, personal digital assistant (PDA), notebookcomputer, personal computer, a connected set-top box (STB) such asprovided by cable or satellite content providers, or a video game systemconsole, a head-mounted display (HMD) or other wearable computingdevice, including a wearable computing device having an eyeglassprojection screen, and/or various other generally known types ofcomputing devices.

As shown in FIG. 1, system 100 may include one or more beacons 108. Insome embodiments, beacons 108 may be installed at a merchant location,such as a store, restaurant, and the like, and other locations whereuser 110 may be able to check in and receive additional content, offers,features, or payment options. In some embodiments, beacons 108 may beBluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) beacons. BLE is a technology that transmitsinformation at a frequency of about 2.4 GHz (about 2042-2480 MHz) overforty (40) 2-MHz wide channels, and has a range of about 50 meter orabout 160 feet. Information transmitted according to the BLE protocolmay be transmitted at a rate of about 1 Mbit/s with an applicationthroughput of about 0.27 Mbit/s. In some embodiments, BLE communicationsmay be secured using 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)encryption with counter mode with a cipher block chaining messageauthentication code (CBC-MAC) and user defined security. Further, insome embodiments, BLE communications may utilize adaptive frequencyhopping, lazy acknowledgement, a 24-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC)and 32-bit message integrity check for robustness. Moreover, in someembodiments, BLE-capable devices may consume a fraction of the power ofstandard Bluetooth® devices due to the protocol allowing low dutycycles, and being designed for applications that may not requirecontinuous data transfer. Beacons 108 may transmit one or more sequencesof information such that when a device such as client computing device102 capable of receiving information from beacons 108 comes within therange of a beacon 108, the device may receive a transmission from abeacon 108 that may include information, data, metadata, and the likethat may be displayed by client computing device 102 or used by clientcomputing device 102 to initiate communications with beacon 108. In someembodiments, beacon 108 may be in communication with remote server 104over network 106 through wireless or wired connection. In particular,beacon 108 may be in communication with remote server 104 over network106. Beacon 108 may also transmit information to client computing device102 using other wireless communication protocols, such as Bluetooth®,Near Field Communications (NFC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID),and the like.

Client computing device 102 may include any appropriate combination ofhardware and/or software having one or more processors and capable ofreading instructions stored on a tangible non-transitorymachine-readable medium for execution by the one or more processors.Consistent with some embodiments, client computing device 102 includes amachine-readable medium, such as a memory (not shown) that includesinstructions for execution by one or more processors (not shown) forcausing client computing device 102 to perform specific tasks. In someembodiments, the instructions may be executed by the one or moreprocessors in response to interaction by user 110. For example, suchinstructions may include browser application 112 such as a mobilebrowser application, which may be used to provide a user interface topermit user 110 to browse information available over network 106,including information hosted by remote server 104. For example, browserapplication 112 may be implemented as a web browser to view informationavailable over network 106. Browser application 112 may include agraphical user interface (GUI) that is configured to allow user 110 tointerface and communicate with remote server 104 or other serversmanaged by content providers or merchants via network 106. For example,user 110 may be able to access websites to find and purchase items, aswell as access user account information or web content.

Client computing device 102 may also include a check in application 114that may allow user 110 to check in to a location using a check inplatform or service such as may be provided by PayPal, Inc. of San Jose,Calif., Foursquare of New York, N.Y., Facebook, Inc., of Menlo Park,Calif., or Google+ of Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., Yelp Inc.of San Francisco, Calif., or by a merchant or location, and implementedby remote server 104. In some embodiments, check in application mayinclude multiple application programming interfaces (APIs) for checkingin to one or more of the check in platforms or services. In someembodiments, checking in to a location while visiting a location such asa merchant physical storefront may provide user with exclusive deals,offers, or may allow user to purchase and pay for items.

Client computing device 102 may also include a payment application 116that may be used by user 110 using client computing device 102 to make apayment. In some embodiments, payment application 116 may be configuredto make a payment using remote server 104 as a payment processor. Insome embodiments, functionalities provided by check in application 114and payment application 116 may actually be provided by a singleapplication. Client computing device 102 may include other applications118 as may be desired in one or more embodiments to provide additionalfeatures available to user 110, including accessing a user account withremote server 104. For example, applications 118 may include interfacesand communication protocols that allow the user to receive and transmitinformation through network 106 and to remote server 104 and otheronline sites. Applications 118 may also include security applicationsfor implementing client-side security features, programmatic clientapplications for interfacing with appropriate APIs over network 106 orvarious other types of generally known programs and/or applications.Applications 116 may include mobile applications downloaded and residenton client computing device 102 that enables user 110 to access contentthrough the applications.

Remote server 104, according to some embodiments, may be maintained byan online payment provider, such as PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif.,which may provide processing for online financial and informationtransactions on behalf of user 110. Remote server 104, according to someembodiments, may also be maintained by a service that processes checkins so that a proprietor of a location, such as a merchant, or othersknow that user 110 is at the location or is able to provide user 110with the ability to pay for goods using client computing device, receiveoffers, receive loyalty points, and the like. Remote server 104 may alsobe capable of providing access to a merchant's goods and services(collectively referred to as “items”) that are for purchase and mayprovide a payment service processing for the purchased items. Remoteserver 104 may include at least check in application 119, which may beconfigured to interact with client computing device 102 and beacon 108to check user 110 in to a location. In some embodiments, checking clientcomputing device 102 in to a location may allow user 110 and clientcomputing device 102, to access features, specials, offers, and the likeoffered by the location. In some embodiments, these features, specials,offers, and the like may be provided and processed by remote server 104on behalf of the location. In some embodiments, check ins may beautomatic check ins made through the communication of client computingdevice 102 and beacon 108, such as described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/938,860, filed on Jul. 10, 2013, and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/021,045, filed on Sep. 9, 2013, the entire contents of bothof these applications which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

Remote server 104 may also include a payment application 120 that mayfacilitate processing payments for user 110 to merchants, for example.In some embodiments, payment application 120 may be configured tointerface with payment application 116 to receive payment details, userinformation, merchant information, and additional information forprocessing a payment on behalf of user 110. Payment application 120 mayalso be capable of interfacing with check in application 119 such thatwhen a check in is processed a payment may be authorized for thelocation in which user 110 is checking in to. In some embodiments,functionalities provided by check in application 119 and paymentapplication 120 may actually be provided by a single application. Remoteserver 104 may also include an account database 122 that includesaccount information 124 for users having an account on remote server104, such as user 110. In some embodiments, payment application 120 mayprocess payments based on information in account information 124 ofaccount database 122. Remote server 104 may include other applications126 and may also be in communication with one or more external databases128, that may provide additional information that may be used by remoteserver 104. In some embodiments, databases 128 may be databasesmaintained by third parties, and may include third party accountinformation of user 110.

As used herein, user 110 may have an account with remote server 104 suchthat account information 124 includes information about user 110. Whenuser 110 checks in with remote server 104 or performs otherauthentication with remote server 104, client computing device 102 maybe associated with user 110 such that remote server 104 recognizesclient computing device 102 as being associated with user 110. In someembodiments, remote server 104 may send a cookie or other object toclient computing device 102 that provides an indication of theassociation between user 110 and client computing device 102.

Although discussion has been made of applications and applications onclient computing device 102 and remote server 104, the applications mayalso be, in some embodiments, modules. Module, as used herein, may referto a software module that performs a function when executed by one ormore processors or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) orother circuit having memory and at least one processor for executinginstructions to perform a function, such as the functions described asbeing performed by the applications.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating computing system 200, which maycorrespond to either of client computing device 102 or remote server104, consistent with some embodiments. Computing system 200 may be amobile device such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personalcomputer, laptop computer, netbook, or tablet computer, set-top box,video game console, head-mounted display (HMD) or other wearablecomputing device as would be consistent with client computing device102. Further, computing system 200 may also be a server or one serveramongst a plurality of servers, as would be consistent with remoteserver 104. As shown in FIG. 2, computing system 200 includes a networkinterface component (NIC) 202 configured for communication with anetwork such as network 108 shown in FIG. 1. Consistent with someembodiments, NIC 202 includes a wireless communication component, suchas a wireless broadband component, a wireless satellite component, orvarious other types of wireless communication components including radiofrequency (RF), microwave frequency (MWF), and/or infrared (IR)components configured for communication with network 106. Consistentwith other embodiments, NIC 202 may be configured to interface with acoaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a digital subscriber line (DSL)modem, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) modem, an Ethernetdevice, and/or various other types of wired and/or wireless networkcommunication devices adapted for communication with network 106.

Consistent with some embodiments, computing system 200 includes a systembus 204 for interconnecting various components within computing system200 and communicating information between the various components. Suchcomponents include a processing component 206, which may be one or moreprocessors, micro-controllers, graphics processing units (GPUs) ordigital signal processors (DSPs), and a memory component 208, which maycorrespond to a random access memory (RAM), an internal memorycomponent, a read-only memory (ROM), or an external or static optical,magnetic, or solid-state memory. Consistent with some embodiments,computing system 200 further includes a display component 210 fordisplaying information to a user of computing system 200. Displaycomponent 210 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, an organiclight emitting diode (OLED) screen (including active matrix AMOLEDscreens), an LED screen, a plasma display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)display. Computing system 200 may also include an input component 212,allowing for a user of computing system 200, such as consumer 120, toinput information to computing system 200. Such information couldinclude payment information such as an amount required to complete atransaction, account information, authentication information such as acredential, or identification information. An input component 212 mayinclude, for example, a keyboard or key pad, whether physical orvirtual. Computing system 200 may further include a navigation controlcomponent 214, configured to allow a user to navigate along displaycomponent 210. Consistent with some embodiments, navigation controlcomponent 214 may be a mouse, a trackball, or other such device.Moreover, if device 200 includes a touch screen, display component 210,input component 212, and navigation control 214 may be a singleintegrated component, such as a capacitive sensor-based touch screen.

Computing system 200 may further include a location component 216 fordetermining a location of computing system 200. In some embodiments,location component 216 may correspond to a GPS transceiver that is incommunication with one or more GPS satellites. In other embodiments,location component 216 may be configured to determine a location ofcomputing system 200 by using an internet protocol (IP) address lookup,or by triangulating a position based on nearby telecommunications towersor wireless access points (WAPs). Location component 216 may be furtherconfigured to store a user-defined location in memory component 208 thatcan be transmitted to a third party for the purpose of identifying alocation of computing system 200. Computing system 200 may also includesensor components 218. Sensor components 218 provide sensorfunctionality, and may correspond to sensors built into client computingdevice 102 or sensor peripherals coupled to client computing device 102.Sensor components 218 may include any sensory device that capturesinformation related to user 110 and/or client computing device 102 thatmay be associated with any actions that user 110 performs using clientcomputing device 102. Sensor components 218 may include camera andimaging components, accelerometers, biometric readers, GPS devices,motion capture devices, and other devices that are capable of providinginformation about client computing device 102 or user 110, or anenvironment therearound. Computing system 200 may also include one ormore wireless transceivers 220 that may each include an antenna that isseparable or integral and is capable of transmitting and receivinginformation according to one or more wireless network protocols, such asWi-Fi™, 3G, 4G, HSDPA, LTE, RF, NFC, IEEE 802.11a, b, g, n, ac, or ad,Bluetooth®, BLE, WiMAX, ZigBee®, etc.

Computing system 200 may perform specific operations by processingcomponent 206 executing one or more sequences of instructions containedmemory component 208. In other embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may beused in place of or in combination with software instructions toimplement the present disclosure. Logic may be encoded in a computerreadable medium, which may refer to any medium that participates inproviding instructions to processing component 206 for execution,including memory component 208. Consistent with some embodiments, thecomputer readable medium is tangible and non-transitory. In variousimplementations, non-volatile media include optical or magnetic disks,volatile media includes dynamic memory, and transmission media includescoaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, including wires thatcomprise system bus 204. Some common forms of computer readable mediainclude, for example, floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetictape, any other magnetic medium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punchcards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes,RAM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, orany other medium from which a computer is adapted to read.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution ofinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure may beperformed by computing system 200. In various other embodiments of thepresent disclosure, a plurality of computing systems 200 coupled by acommunication link 222 to network 108 (e.g., such as a LAN, WLAN, PTSN,and/or various other wired or wireless networks, includingtelecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks) may performinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure in coordinationwith one another. Computing system 200 may transmit and receivemessages, data and one or more data packets, information andinstructions, including one or more programs (i.e., application code)through communication link 222 and network interface component 202 andwireless transceiver 220. Received program code may be executed byprocessing component 206 as received and/or stored in memory component208.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a beacon 108, consistent with someembodiments. As shown in FIG. 3, beacon 108 includes a network interfacecomponent (NIC) 300 configured for communication with a network such asnetwork 106 shown in FIG. 1. Consistent with some embodiments, NIC 300includes a wireless communication component, such as a wirelessbroadband component, a wireless satellite component, or various othertypes of wireless communication components including radio frequency(RF), microwave frequency (MWF), and/or infrared (IR) componentsconfigured for communication 302 with network 106. Consistent with otherembodiments, NIC 300 may be configured to interface with a coaxialcable, a fiber optic cable, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, apublic switched telephone network (PSTN) modem, an Ethernet device,and/or various other types of wired and/or wireless networkcommunication devices adapted for communication with network 106.

Beacon 108 also includes a system bus 304 for interconnecting variouscomponents within beacon 108 and communicating information between thevarious components. Such components include a processing component 306,which may be one or more processors, micro-controllers, graphicsprocessing units (GPUs) or digital signal processors (DSPs), a memorycomponent 308, firmware 310 and one or more wireless transceivers 312that may each include an antenna that is separable or integral and iscapable of transmitting and receiving information according to one ormore wireless network protocols, such as Wi-Fi™ 3G, 4G, HSDPA, LTE, RF,NFC, IEEE 802.11a, b, g, n, ac, or ad, Bluetooth®, BLE, WiMAX, ZigBee®,etc. Beacon 108 may also include a power source 314. Power source 314may be any power source capable of providing sufficient current to powerthe components of beacon 108. In some embodiments, power source 318 maybe a battery, such as a watch battery or button cell.

In some embodiments, beacon 108 may be configured to transmitinformation using wireless transceivers 312 based on instructions storedin memory 308 and/or firmware 310 executed by processing component 306.The instructions may be stored in memory 308 and/or firmware 310 bydirectly writing the instructions to memory 308 and/or firmware 310 overcommunication link 302 to beacon hardware interface 300 or by wirelesslyreceiving instructions by wireless transceivers 312. In someembodiments, beacon 108 may be configured to transmit informationrelated to checking in to a merchant associated with beacon 108. In someembodiments, beacon 108 may also transmit instructions that whenreceived by client computing device 102 may cause check in application114 or payment application 116 to be executed by processing component206 to cause client computing device 102 to perform a check in at themerchant associated with beacon 108. Further, beacon 108 may transferinstructions that, when received by client computing device 102 causepayment application 116 to be executed by processing component to allowuser 110 to authorize a payment to be processed by remote server 104. Insome embodiments, wireless transceiver 312 may correspond to a BLEtransceiver configured to transmit and receive information according tothe BLE protocol. In some embodiments, beacon 108 may be a BLE beacon ordongle such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/938,860,filed on Jul. 10, 2013, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. Further, BLE beacon 108 mayhave a design such as shown in U.S. Design Application No. 29/455,720,filed May 23, 2013, the entire contents of which are also incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

As will be readily appreciated, the foregoing networks, systems,devices, methods and variations thereof can be used to implement anautomated check in of users at a cooperating or subscribingestablishment, such that subsequent purchase transactions and otheractivities can be more streamlined and convenient.

FIG. 4 illustrates in block diagram format an exemplary merchantlocation 400 and associated system components adapted for implementingthe purchase of goods or services using automatic wireless consumercheck ins according to some embodiments. It will be readily appreciatedthat this particular layout of merchant location 400 is only providedfor purposes of illustration, and that many other types of layouts,devices, procedures and the like could be effectively implemented usingthe various principles of the present disclosure.

Merchant location 400 includes an indoor store floor having a number ofbeacons 108. In some embodiments, beacons 108 may be BLE beacons.Beacons 108 may further be in communication with remote server 104 overnetwork 106. These devices can be distributed strategically throughoutmerchant location, such as near the front door 402, at centrallocations, and/or at locations of high volume traffic within theestablishment. One or more client computing devices 102, such assmartphones, tablets or the like, can interact with one or more of thebeacons 108 throughout the store. Preferably, only one interaction witha beacon is needed for a check in, although it may be useful for anestablishment to know where user 110 is located and/or user 110 traveland shopping patterns or habits within a store. Such further informationcan be used to provide further advertising and promotional offers (e.g.,related to something at or near where the user is physically located),and/or to authenticate the actual user versus one who may have stolen oris otherwise using the mobile device in an unauthorized fashion. Suchfurther authentication can involve checking known user 110 traffic andshopping patterns against what is currently happening for a given device102.

An actual automatic check in process can involve a subscribed oraffirmatively active user 110 entering a merchant location 400,whereupon client computing device 102 associated with user 110 has a lowlevel background program such as check in application 114 running thatdetects a low level BLE signal from one or more beacons 108 in thestore. Client computing device 102 can then “wake up” and communicate ona more active level with beacon 108. In some embodiments, a uniquedevice identifier and token can be generated and assigned to clientcomputing device 102 for a particular time, location and session, withappropriate expiration and other safeguards in place to protect againstfraud or other misuse. For example, a period of one or two hours mightsuffice for a typical check in session or event. The process ofestablishing communications between client computing device 102 andbeacon 108 and exchanging metadata and a one-time use beacon token toperform a check in is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/938,860, filed on Jul. 10, 2013, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/021,045, filed on Sep. 9, 2013, the entire contents of both of theseapplications which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

However, parts used to produce beacons 108 may have a limited amount ofcommunications channels that allow for simultaneous communications withdevices such as client computing device 102. For example, processingcomponent 306 and wireless transceiver 312 may be currently configuredto only handle a limited number of simultaneous communications channelssuch that a beacon 108 may only be able to be in communication with, tocheck in, provide offers, process payments, and the like, with a limitednumber of client computing device 102. In particular, current integratedcircuits (ICs), and microchips used for current BLE devices may onlyhandle a maximum of 37 concurrent data channels. As a result, if morethan 37 different client computing devices 102 enter merchant location400 through door 402, beacon 108 cannot communicate will all of theclient computing devices 102, which means that beacon 108 may not beable to check in all of the client computing devices 102 or processpayments for facilitate payment processing for each of the clientcomputing devices 102.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow for enabling additional clientcomputing devices 102 to be in communication with a beacon 108,consistent with some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 5, remote server 104may provide beacon 108 and client computing device 102 with tokens andkeys. In some embodiments, the tokens and keys may be one-time usepayment tokens and associated keys wherein the associated keys mayinclude a pair of symmetric keys and the tokens can each have, forexample, a user identifier, a token value, a key serial number and anAES or other crypto key. In some embodiments, remote server 104 mayprovide beacon with tokens and keys when beacon 108 is set up to workwith remote server 104 for checking in users through remote server 104.Remote server 104 may further provide beacon 108 with digital signaturesand merchant one-time use tokens that may be used to track check ins andtransactions. In some embodiments, tokens and keys may be provided toclient computing device 102 when user 110 using client computing device102 signs up for a check in service provided by remote server 104 and/orwhen check in application 114 is installed on client computing device102.

Beacon 108 may then continuously broadcast a generic identifier. In someembodiments, the identifier may be a universally unique identifier(UUID). The broadcast UUID may be received by client computing device102 to initiate communications with beacon 108. Beacon 108 may thenprovide signed metadata, a specific one-time use beacon token, and adigital signature associated with the signed metadata to clientcomputing device 102. In some embodiments, client computing device 102may request the metadata and other information from beacon 108 whencommunications are initiated with beacon 108. Check in application maybe configured to verify the metadata and other information, such as thedigital signature as being issued by the service provider, by using apublic key received from remote server 104. When the digital signatureis verified as authentic, check in application 114 may then provide user110 with the option to check in. When user 110 checks in, clientcomputing device 102 may select a token received from remote server 104,encrypt the selected token value and the received beacon token valueusing a key associated with the selected token, and send these encryptedtoken values to beacon 108. Beacon 108 then sends the encrypted tokenvalues to remote server which decrypts the values and checks in user 110and user device 102 using the decrypted values. The process of checkingin by communicating with a BLE beacon, such as beacon 108, is furtherdescribed in in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/938,860, filed onJul. 10, 2013, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/021,045, filed onSep. 9, 2013, the entire contents of both of these applications whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Remote server 104 may then assign a device identifier the clientcomputing device 102 and associated user 110, and send the assigneddevice identifier to beacon 108. In some embodiments, the deviceidentifier may be a service UUID that is randomly generated byprocessing component 206 of remote server 104 at the time that user 110and user device 102 is checked in, and stored in account information 124of account database 122, for example in a table, associated with user110 and the associated client computing device 102. The generated UUIDmay be 32-bits or 128-bits, in some embodiments. Moreover, in someembodiments, the UUID may be randomly generated by processing component306 of beacon 108. In some embodiments, the service UUID may be providedto other beacons 108 at the same location as the beacon 108 that was incommunication with client computing device 102 and provided theencrypted token values to remote server 104. For example, as shown inFIG. 4, client computing device 102 may initially be in communicationwith beacon 108 near door 402, such that beacon 108 may be provided witha service UUID for client computing device 102 when remote server 104checks in client computing device 102 and user 110. Then, other beacons108 in location 400 may also be provided with the service UUID. In someembodiments, memory 308 may include one or more tables or other datastructures capable of storing client computing devices 102 and theirassociated assigned service UUIDs.

When beacon 108 receives a service UUID for client computing device 102,beacon 108 may then send the assigned service UUID to client computingdevice 102 along with instructions to broadcast the service UUID. Oncethe service UUID and the instructions to broadcast the service UUID aredelivered to client computing device 102, beacon 108 stops activecommunications with client computing device 102 freeing up the channeland resources that were being used to communicate with client computingdevice 102.

Client computing device 102 may then begin to advertise the service UUIDwhile beacon 108, and other beacons 108, passively scan for the serviceUUID to be broadcasted. In some embodiments, a check in processed byremote server 104 may have an expiration time such that the instructionsto broadcast the service UUID provided to client computing device 102 bybeacon 108 may include an instruction to only broadcast the service UUIDfor a time equal to the expiration time. In some embodiments, theexpiration time may be between about 1 hour and about 3 hours. Inparticular, the expiration time may be about 2 hours.

When processing component 206 of remote server 104 determines thatcontent should be provided to client computing device 102, the contentmay be sent to beacon 108 along with the specific service UUID to whichthe content should be provided. Beacon 108 may then look for thespecific service UUID and connect to client computing device 102broadcasting the specific service UUID, resume (or initiate if adifferent beacon 108 than used to facilitate the check in)communications, and provide the content to client computing device 102.Once the content has been provided, beacon 108 may then cease activecommunications with client computing device 102, freeing up the channeland resources that were being used such that they may be used forcommunicating with other devices.

In some embodiments, the content that may be provided to device may beoffers, deals, specials, information about location 400, and other suchcontent. As noted above, beacons 108 in location 400 may each scan for aUUID assigned to client computing device 102 and broadcast clientcomputing device 102. Consequently, in some embodiments, if beacon 404scans for the service UUID associated with client computing device 102and finds client computing device 102, beacon 404 can provide thisinformation to remote server 104. Remote server 104 may then know thatclient computing device 102 and user 110 are located in the proximity ofbeacon 404. As a result, remote server 104 may be able to providecontent related to the area of location 400 in which client computingdevice 102 is found. For example, remote server 104 may provide offersor advertisements for products located near beacon 404 when beacon 404notices client computing device 102 broadcasting its assigned serviceUUID. Then, when beacon 406 notices the service UUID associated withclient computing device 102, remote server 104 may provide offers oradvertisements related to products near beacon 406. As another example,location may be a museum or landmark, and the like, and remote server104 may provide information related to an exhibit or work at thelocation of beacon 404 when beacon 404 notices the service UUIDassociated with client computing device 102 and the provide informationrelated to a different exhibit or work located near beacon 406 whenbeacon 406 notices the service UUID associated with client computingdevice 102.

In some embodiments, that content that may be provided to clientcomputing device 102 may be transaction-related content, includingcontent related to paying for items user 110 is purchasing from location400. For example, if beacon 408 notices the service UUID associated withclient computing device 102, remote server 104 may provide contentrelated to a purchase or transaction. In some embodiments, if no beacon108 in location 400 notices the service UUID associated with clientcomputing device 102 while scanning, this information can be provided toremote server 104 such that remote server 104 can assume that user 110and client computing device 102 are no longer in location 400 and cancheck user 110 and client computing device 102 out of location 400.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process 600 for checking in to alocation using a beacon, consistent with some embodiments. For thepurpose of illustration, FIG. 6 may be described with reference to anyof FIGS. 1-5. Process 600 shown in FIG. 6 may be embodied incomputer-readable instructions for execution by one or more processorssuch that one or more of the steps of the method may be performed byprocessing component 206 of client computing device 102. As shown inFIG. 6, process 600 may begin when client computing device 102 receivesa broadcasted identifier (602). The broadcasted identifier may be a UUIDreceived from one or more beacons 108 in a location 400, includingbeacon 404, 406, or 408. In some embodiments, beacons 108, 404, 406, and408 may be BLE beacons such that the identifier may be broadcastaccording to BLE communications protocols. Client computing device 102may include wireless transceiver 220 that may be capable ofcommunicating with a beacon 108 using BLE communication protocols andreceiving the broadcasted identifier.

Client computing device 102 may then initiate communications with beacon108 (604). In some embodiments, client computing device 102 may receiveone or more tokens and a set of keys from remote server 104 for use inchecking in when client computing device 102 signs up for an accountwith remote server 104, registers for checking in with remote server104, or installs check in application 114. The received tokens and keysmay be stored in memory component 208 of client computing device 102 andprocessing component 206 of client computing device may verify thereceived identifier using the stored token.

Client computing device 102 may then request metadata and otherinformation from beacon 108 (606). In response, client computing device102 may receive metadata, a beacon token and a digital signature frombeacon 108 for checking in to location 400 (608). Processing component206 of client computing device 102 may then verify the receivedinformation, including the digital signature, using keys stored inmemory component 208 of client computing device 102 and received fromremote server (610). Client computing device 102 may then receive acheck in acceptance in response to a check in prompt (612). In someembodiments, upon verifying the metadata, beacon token, and digitalsignature, check in application 114 may prompt user 110 to accept thecheck in to location 400 by, for example, displaying an interactiveprompt on display component 210. User 110 may be able to accept thecheck in by interacting with the prompt using input component 212,navigation control, and display component 210, or a combination thereof.When the received digital signature is verified, processing component206 of client computing device 102 may then encrypt token values andsend these encrypted values to beacon 108 (614). In some embodiments,the encrypted values may be sent to beacon 108 by wireless transceiver220 of client computing device 102 using a BLE communication protocol.

Client computing device 102 may then receive a device identifier. andinstructions to broadcast the identifier (616). In some embodiments, thereceived identifier may be a unique service UUID received from beacon108. The received device identifier may then be stored in memorycomponent 208 and processing component 206 may be configured to executethe instructions such that wireless transceiver 220 broadcasts thedevice identifier (618). In some embodiments, the instructions mayspecify that the device identifier is to be broadcasted for as long asan expiration time associated with the check in. Client computing device102, while broadcasting the device identifier, may receive a request tocommunicate with beacon 108. When client computing device 102 receivesthe request, client computing device 102 may then re-establish orinitiate communications with the requesting beacon 108 and receivecontent from the beacon 108 (620). In some embodiments, the content maythen be displayed by display component 210 of client computing device102 for viewing by or taking action by user 110. In some embodiments,the requesting beacon 108 may be the same beacon 108 that clientcomputing device 102 was previously in communication with. In otherembodiments, the requesting beacon 108 may be a different beacon 108,wherein the different beacon 108 will be able to initiate communicationswith client computing device 102 without having to go through steps602-614 since the beacon token will be the same. Consequently, user 110having client computing device 102 may enter location 400 and performsteps 602-616 with beacon 404, and then receive a request from beacon406 while broadcasting the device identifier.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process 700 for checking in to alocation using a beacon, consistent with some embodiments. For thepurpose of illustration, FIG. 7 may be described with reference to anyof FIGS. 1-5. Process 700 shown in FIG. 7 may be embodied incomputer-readable instructions for execution by one or more processorssuch that one or more of the steps of the method may be performed byprocessing component 306 of beacon 108, which may generally refer to anybeacon 108 shown in FIG. 4, including beacons 404, 406, and 408. Asshown in FIG. 7, process 700 may begin when beacon 108 broadcasts anidentifier (702). In some embodiments, beacon 108 may be a BLE beaconsuch that the identifier may be broadcast according to BLEcommunications protocols. The broadcast identifier may have beenreceived from remote server 104 as part of a setup of beacon 108 inlocation 400 and may be a UUID.

Beacon 108 may then send metadata, a beacon token, and a digitalsignature in response to a request received from a device that receivedthe broadcast identifier (704). In some embodiments, the beacon token,digital signature, and metadata may be received from remote server 104and stored in memory component 308 and/or firmware 310. To complete thecheck in, beacon 108 may then receive encrypted token values from clientcomputing device 102, which are sent to remote server 104 (706). Beacon108 may send a device identifier and instructions to broadcast thedevice identifier to client computing device 102 (708). In someembodiments, the device identifier may be a UUID and the instructionsmay specify that client computing device 102 is to broadcast the deviceidentifier for as long as an expiration time associated with the checkin. Moreover, the device identifier may be randomly generated by remoteserver 104 and sent to beacon 108 for sending to client computing device102 or the device identifier may be randomly generated by beacon 108. INembodiments when beacon 108 randomly generates the device identifier,the generated device identifier may be sent to remote server 104 andother beacons 108 at a locations associated with beacon 108. Beacon 108may then stop communicating with client computing device 102 (710) tofree up the communications channels and resources for use incommunicating with other devices.

Although beacon 108 has stopped communicating with client computingdevice 102, beacon 108 may continue to scan for the device identifierassociated with client computing device 102 (712). Beacon 108 mayperiodically make a determination as to whether the device identifier ispresent by noting whether the device identifier is found during a scan(714). When the device identifier is determined to not be present,beacon 108 may notify remote server 104 that the device identifier wasnot present (716). Remote server 104 may then be able to make adetermination as to whether another beacon 108 in location noticed thedevice identifier associated with client computing device 102, orwhether, if no beacons 108 in location 400 have noticed the deviceidentifier, that client computing device 102 and user 110 are no longerin location 400.

Beacon 108 may continue to scan for the device identifier associatedwith client computing device 102 until content is received from remoteserver 104 (718). When content is received from remote server 104,beacon 108 may communicate with client computing device 102 using thedevice identifier (720) and provide the received content to clientcomputing device 102 (722). Beacon 108 may then stop communicating withclient computing device 102 (710) to free up the communications channelsand resources for use in communicating with other devices, and continueto scan for the device identifier associated with client computingdevice 102 (712). In some embodiments, when a check out expires, orremote server 104 determines that client computing device 102 and user110 are no longer in location 400, beacon 108 may receive a notificationto stop scanning for the device identifier.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process 800 for checking in to alocation using a beacon, consistent with some embodiments. For thepurpose of illustration, FIG. 8 may be described with reference to anyof FIGS. 1-5. Process 800 shown in FIG. 8 may be embodied incomputer-readable instructions for execution by one or more processorssuch that one or more of the steps of the method may be performed byprocessing component 206 of remote server 104. As shown in FIG. 8,process 800 may begin by providing client computing device 102 andbeacon 108 tokens and keys (802). In some embodiments, the tokens andkeys may be one-time use payment tokens and associated keys wherein theassociated keys may include a pair of symmetric keys and the tokens caneach have, for example, a user identifier, a token value, a key serialnumber and an AES or other crypto key. In some embodiments, remoteserver 104 may provide beacon 108 with tokens and keys when beacon 108is set up to work with remote server 104 for checking in users throughremote server 104. Remote server 104 may further provide beacon 108 withdigital signatures and merchant one-time use tokens that may be used totrack check ins and transactions. In some embodiments, tokens and keysmay be provided to client computing device 102 when user 110 usingclient computing device 102 signs up for a check in service provided byremote server 104 and/or when check in application 114 is installed onclient computing device 102.

Remote server 104 may then check user 110 and client computing device102 into location 400 using one or more values decrypted from encryptedvalues received from beacon 108 (804). As discussed above with respectto FIGS. 5-7, when user 110 of client computing device 102 accepts acheck in, client computing device 102 may verify a beacon token providedby beacon 108 and may then encrypt token values and send these encryptedvalues to beacon 108 which may then send the encrypted values to remoteserver 104 which processing component 206 of remote server 104 maydecrypt and use to check in user and client computing device 102 tolocation 400. Remote server 104 may then assign user 110 and clientcomputing device 102 a device identifier (806) and send the deviceidentifier to beacons 108 at location 400 (808). In some embodiments,the device identifier may be a service UUID that may be generated byprocessing component 206 of remote server 104, and stored in accountinformation 124 of account database 122, for example in a table,associated with user 110 and the associated client computing device 102.

Remote server 104 in communication with beacons 108 over network 106 mayreceive a notification that the device identifier is no longer observedat location 400 (810). When this happens, remote server 104 may checkuser 110 and the associated client computing device 102 out of location400 (812) and inform beacons 108 at location 400 that user 110 andassociated client computing device 102 is no longer at location 400. Asdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 5 and 7, a beacon 108 at location400 may continue to scan for the device identifier assigned to clientcomputing device 102 and may do so until an expiration time has passedor until remote server 104 provides information to the beacon 108 thatto no longer scan for the assigned device identifier.

Periodically, processing component 206 of remote server 104 maydetermine that there is content to provide to user 110 and clientcomputing device 102 (816), and will provide the content to one or morebeacons 108 at location 400 (818). In some embodiments, remote server104 may store and tabulate the beacon 108 that most recently noticed thedevice identifier when scanning, and send content to only that beacon108. In some embodiments, the content may be provided to all beacons 108at location 400 such that each beacon 108 may try to find the deviceidentifier to connect to client computing device 102 and provide thecontent. Remote server 104 may continue to perform steps 810-818 until anotification that the device identifier is no longer received atlocation (810) or the expiration time associated with the check in haspassed (820).

Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as programcode and/or data, may be stored on one or more machine-readable mediums,including non-transitory machine-readable mediums. It is alsocontemplated that software identified herein may be implemented usingone or more general purpose or specific purpose computers and/orcomputer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Where applicable, theordering of various steps described herein may be changed, combined intocomposite steps, and/or separated into sub-steps to provide featuresdescribed herein.

Consequently, embodiments described herein may allow a BLE beacon tofacilitate a check in with one user device and disconnect from the userdevice so that the channels and resources needed to facilitate the checkin are freed up for other user devices. The embodiments described hereinmay then allow the BLE beacon to quickly connect a user device using aunique identifier assigned to the user device to deliver content. Theexamples provided above are exemplary only and are not intended to belimiting. One skilled in the art may readily devise other systemsconsistent with the disclosed embodiments which are intended to bewithin the scope of this disclosure. As such, the application is limitedonly by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a non-transitory memory;and one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memoryand configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory tocause the system to perform operations comprising: receiving, from aserver a device identifier associated with a user device; transmitting,to the user device through a wireless transceiver via a local wirelessprotocol, the device identifier; stopping communication with the userdevice; scanning, using the wireless transceiver, for the deviceidentifier being broadcast by the user device; notifying, in response todetecting the broadcast of the device identifier; the server of apresence of the user device; receiving, from the server in response tonotifying the server, content that is directed to the user device;reinitiating, in response to receiving the content, communication withthe user device through the wireless transceiver via the local wirelessprotocol; and transmitting, to the user device through the wirelesstransceiver via the local wireless protocol and in response to receivingthe content that is directed to the user device and detecting the deviceidentifier being broadcast by the user device, the content.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise notifying theserver that the user device is not present when the device identifier isnot detected during the scanning.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise stopping the scanning when an expirationtime for a check-in for the user device has passed.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the operations further comprise stopping the scanningin response to receiving, from the server, a notification to stop thescanning.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise stopping communication with the user device after transmittingthe content to the user device.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving, from the user device through thewireless transceiver and before receiving the device identifier from theserver, a check-in request from the user device; and transmitting, tothe server, the check-in request in response to receiving the check-inrequest from the user device.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise: broadcasting, using the wirelesstransceiver, a beacon identifier; receiving, from the user devicethrough the wireless transceiver and in response to the user devicereceiving the beacon identifier, a request for beacon information; andtransmitting, to the user device through the wireless transceiver and inresponse to receiving the request for beacon information, metadata, abeacon token, and a digital signature.
 8. A method comprising:receiving, by a beacon and from a server, an identifier assigned to aclient computing device; transmitting, by the beacon to the clientcomputing device through wireless transceiver, the identifier assignedto the client computing device; stopping, by the beacon, communicationwith the client computing device; scanning, by the beacon using thewireless transceiver, for the identifier assigned to the clientcomputing device being broadcast by the client computing device;notifying, by the beacon in response to detecting the broadcast of theidentifier assigned to the client computing device; the server of apresence of the client computing device; receiving, by the beacon fromthe server in response to notifying the server, content to be deliveredto the client computing device; reinitiating, by the beacon in responseto receiving the content, communication with the client computing devicethrough the wireless transceiver; and transmitting, by the beacon to theclient computing device through the wireless transceiver and in responseto receiving the content and detecting the identifier assigned to theclient computing device being broadcast by the client computing device,the content.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising notifying, bythe beacon, the server that the client computing device is not presentwhen the identifier assigned to the client computing device is notdetected during the scanning.
 10. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising stopping, by the beacon, the scanning when an expiration timefor a check-in for the client computing device has passed.
 11. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising stopping, by the beacon, thescanning in response to receiving, from the server, a notification tostop the scanning.
 12. The method of claim 8, further comprisingstopping, by the beacon, communication with the client computing deviceafter transmitting the content to the client computing device.
 13. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, by the beacon from theclient computing device through the wireless transceiver and beforereceiving the identifier assigned to the client computing device fromthe server, a check-in request from the client computing device; andtransmitting, by the beacon to the server, the check-in request inresponse to receiving the check-in request from the client computingdevice.
 14. The method of claim 8, further comprising: broadcasting, bythe beacon using the wireless transceiver, an identifier assigned to thebeacon; receiving, by the beacon from the client computing devicethrough the wireless transceiver and in response to the client computingdevice receiving the identifier assigned to the beacon, a request forbeacon information; and transmitting, by the beacon to the clientcomputing device through the wireless transceiver and in response toreceiving the request for beacon information, metadata, a beacon token,and a digital signature.
 15. A system, comprising: a non-transitorymemory; and one or more hardware processors coupled to thenon-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from thenon-transitory memory to cause the system to perform operationscomprising: assigning a device identifier to a user device;transmitting, to the user device via one or more beacon devices, thedevice identifier; receiving, from the one or more beacon devices, oneor more notifications that the one or more beacons devices have detectedthe device identifier being broadcast the user device; identifyingcontent to be sent to the user device; transmitting the content to afirst beacon device of the one or more beacon devices, the first beacondevice being a last one of the one or beacon devices to detect thebroadcast of the device identifier by the user device; and transmitting,the content to the first beacon device, to cause the first beacon deviceto: connect, through a wireless transceiver using a local wirelessprotocol, to the user device; and transmit, through a wirelesstransceiver using a local wireless protocol, the content to the userdevice.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the operations furthercomprise receiving, from one of the one or more beacon devices, a noticethat the user device is not present.
 17. The system of claim 16, whereinthe operations further comprise transmitting, to the one or more beacondevices, instructions to stop scanning for the device identifier when anexpiration time for a check-in for the user device has passed.
 18. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprisetransmitting, to the one or more beacon devices, instructions to stopscanning for the device identifier in response to receiving, from eachof the one or more beacon devices, a notification that the user deviceis not present.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the operationsfurther comprise transmitting, to each of the one or more beacondevices, the content.
 20. The system of claim 15, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: receiving, from one of the one or more beacon devices,a check-in request for the user device; and assigning the deviceidentifier to the user device in response to receiving the check-inrequest.